You will Always get a Place in my Heart . . .

A few weeks ago I watched Marley & Me on TV. I’ve already seen that movie a few times. Having a Labrador myself I think you can easily relate to that story.

The first time I’ve seen it I really enjoyed it. I thought when Kira was a little puppy, when we first saw her with all her brothers and sisters but picked her, when we took her home, all the times she cried at night because she was missing her mum, when we trained her to behave well, when she brought shoes and slippers around . . . basically all the moments that the movie brings up! Then unfortunately the end is pretty sad but since I had a young dog (at that time) that image didn’t cross my mind. It just looked very far away so no need to worry about, right?

When I saw it again a few weeks ago it actually had a totally different impact on me. I was aware my lovely Kira is getting old, she’s been also blind for the past year and she is 11 years old. At the end of the movie my eyes got really teary and I just hoped we would have still a couple of years together. Even though she lives at my parents’ house in Italy and I have only the chance to see her 4-5 times a year, she is always in my heart.

My daughter is in love with her too, she calls her hundred of times a day and we often see her on Skype. She has a little Labrador toy called Kira of course, that my brother gifted her when she was not even One! And always sits on the bed with the other favourite soft toys.

Well only a few days after seeing Marley & Me I got a text from my mum saying Kira just had a stroke. She wasn’t able to walk properly, she wouldn’t eat or drink and the vet prescribed cortisone injections for a week. I was very sad and told my daughter that Kira was in pain and went to the doctor. She said “the doctor gives her a medicine and then Kira plays with Amy. I give her a biscuit and her tail goes “fufufufufufufufu”(expression she uses for waggle). I love how children are so genuine and innocent. I really hoped they could have done that!

I saw Kira on Skype a few times since then and she was getting better, she started walking again, eating and drinking more, apparently she was getting through this. On Sunday she was even playing and running around so everything seemed back to normal.

Then yesterday morning, 11 days after that stroke, I had a terrible news.

She got worse during the night so the vet was expected in the late morning, but she didn’t even wait for him. She died mid morning leaving everyone speechless.

She will be missed sooo much . . . after so many years a dog is literally part of your family, is a friend, a sister, a daughter, a loyal companion . . . she is not just a dog, she is the best “person” someone can meet.

I had a bad night and so had my parents when I spoke to them this morning. My daughter doesn’t know it yet and she probably won’t understand much until our next trip to Italy when Kira won’t be there to play with her.

When she woke up this morning she said: “I want to go far away with the plane and see Kira, because Kira is beautiful”. Watery eyes again . . . She probably knows more than what I think.

This is a slideshow of images I put together to remember the joy and happiness she brought to everyone in the family.